Michelle Rempel was debating a sexual harassment bill in Canada’s House of Commons on Monday when she suddenly fell silent. Ms. Rempel, a Conservative lawmaker from Alberta, dropped her prepared remarks onto her desk, stretched out her arms and turned her palms up.
“I don’t want to sit in this place and have this conversation again,” she told the chamber. “I don’t want another woman coming into my office. This needs to stop and it needs to stop now.”
Monday’s frank debate in Canada’s seat of power about sexual harassment and politics was the latest, and most potent, response to the #MeToo movement that is sweeping the nation in ways that have surprised even hardened Canadian feminists.
In a country that often defines itself in the ways it is different from its larger and more bellicose American neighbor, Canadian women have been both inspired and dispirited by what is happening across the border and moved to speak out themselves.
One notable difference, however, is that Canadian politicians from all parties are strongly calling for changes and supporting victims who are increasingly coming forward.
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